Stop the Simpson v. JMike debates……here is the answer to who is better………The Transfer Portal!!! We need a better guard, who can shoot, hit threes, and be consistently relied upon. If Derek transfers out so be it, if he stays then so be it, he will have what I assume will be a diminished role. Go get a quality guard in the portal to mix in with Dylan and JWill or one who can even start that will be ahead of Simpson and JMike in a rotation. JMike I assume will be here but he may actually get less minutes next year depending on what the roster looks like after the offseason dust settles. I personally think Derek will leave through the portal, whether he enters right away or he enters later due to Pike adding a guard to the roster through the portal. We complained about the guards all season, we complained about shooting, we complained about their inability to score……offseason is the time to address that and make changes.
I think there will be more open Schollies. Let’s see how offseason shakes out but Pike could have anywhere from as low as two to four open to him. It’s conceivably possible that Mag, Cliff, Derek, Oskar, Ogbole, Woolf, Chol do not return…..maybe not all of them……but some mixture of them that could mean 4, 5, or 6 guys do not return. Cliff could return to play college basketball but enter a portal……let’s not forget he can only get NIL money from an international trip or game. Maybe he transfers to a school that can offer him that. Maybe he turns pro……Pike will be adding people in the portal just a matter of how many at this point.
If this is his only obstacle to returning to Rutgers, I'd have to imagine we could find another school in the same boat to play us in Canada or something.
You would like to think we could get that creative, not so sure they would be able to make that happen. The alternative is Pike tries to get a quick and definitive answer from Cliff shortly after end of season, then Pike doesn’t wait on Cliff this year, gets a quality big man in the portal and does not pass up chances on quality bigs (according to Mike and Richie on the pod Pike passed up a few who wanted to come as he waited on Cliff last season) while waiting on Cliff and then Cliff later decides he will return to college……maybe then I could see Cliff entering the portal to go to a school where he thinks he can get NIL and one that might showcase him next season for his professional prospects.
Unfortunately, someone on the team has to shoot. Gavin took shots at a faster rate than Simpson and was at 31% also, should we kill the freshman too? This was a very poorly constructed team, with threats no where. When guys who are limited have to try to carry a load, it most likely will be ugly. You need upperclassmen leaders to be a good team. We had none. May not have any next year, so be prepared.
Williams was not expected to play at all this season though. It took a mid season law suit and rule change for him to get on the court
True... so put a healthy and dedicated (haha, right?) Mag in at the 3 and away you go.
Aundre, Gavin, JWill all took more shots than Derek per 100 possessions, Mag almost an equal amount. DS led the team in assists per 100 possessions, over JWill with lower TO's than JWill. He was also able to stay on the court because he played D and committed the fewest fouls per 100.
This is all correct and it explains why Simpson (correctly) plays major minutes on THIS team. But that doesn't guarantee his role going forward.
The problem was Derek over penetrated into no man’s land and never probably spaced the floor to initiate the offense thru Cliff. Cliff should have been targeted by Derek and JMike and Noah and Jeremiah and the first 3 were terrible at getting Cliff the ball and shots. Cliff also if doubled should have been encouraged or demanded to kick out for a 3. The best time to shoot a 3 is when it is kicked out or off an offensive rebound. Our shooting % from 3 would have been a lot better if they were shot that way by everyone Gavin , Hyatt , Noah or Derek. Instead we relied on guards shooting more shots than they should missing more shots than they should and turning Cliff into a 5/6 point player most nights. That was boneheaded offense with disastrous shooting results that turned shots into turnover like possessions and turned close games into double digit deficits. No getting a bucket to stop a drought and stop the momentum . The total misuse of Cliff this year resulting in the pathetic offense and shooting display we witnessed
Don't disagree at all. Don't think we can roster three point guards that can't shoot at all from the outside. I almost don't care which goes, as I'm not as high on JWill as most.
Maybe but losing Cam and Ndongo were absolutely huge losses with out 3 point shooting as well as 2 point shooting taking a dive and our rebounding a year long problem would have been solved by Ndongo. Our horrendous defensive rebounding cost us 4-5 games this year. Expending all that defensive energy and allowing a defensive rebound to create another possession that eventually was converted was a regular staple all year. Never corrected and more than a few forwards didn’t even attempt to jump for rebounds. Breakdown of film would be brutal
It was, kinda.
I'm partially with you. Cliff's shot rate was very low for this team. However, his post game is very limited. He did, however, often draw attention and probably could have kicked back out for more open looks. Don't know if it would have worked out that way, as he was so shot starved, it was usually going up if he got it.
That is my point . All the guards including Jeremiah were score first , shot first and not pass first guards that killed our offense especially Derek. JWill made a few mid ranges but if you are going to handle as much and not give Cliff the ball you better make 6-8 of them. Never happened. In no universe should all the guards , and I am including some of JMike ‘s 2-10 or Noah’s 2-10 shooting days , have more shots than Cliff unless they were on fire like Noah’s 5-5 from three point range against Wisconsin . Remarkably Noah only shot 6 times and was 6-6 but Cliff was 6-11 and 13 points good balance and Jeremiah 6-15 and 18 points. Again , maybe too many Jeremiah shots and maybe more Cliff but better balance than when Cliff has only 2-3 shots a game.
Nah, not at all. He's a bad shooter w poor confidence making it worse now.
